


Is Everything a Joke to You?

by madelegg



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, First Kiss, Fluff, Long Hair, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 10:54:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20777396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madelegg/pseuds/madelegg
Summary: Felix is sick of seeing Sylvain putting himself in danger. But not because he loves him or anything. (Something of a rewrite of Sylvain and Felix's final support conversation, but ending with the romance we deserved.)





	Is Everything a Joke to You?

“Sylvain! Sylvain, open up!” Felix pounded on Sylvain’s bedroom door. “What’s this I hear about you being badly injured in training?”

“Felix…” Sylvain’s weak voice wafted through his door. “I’m sorry buddy, but it’s too late for me. Live on in my stead…”

“Sylvain!” Felix shouted, grabbing the doorknob, and was surprised to find it unlocked. He came flying through the door, panic in his eyes, only to see Sylvain sitting comfortably on his bed, his back to the side wall, his foot propped up by a stool on the side of the bed. His leg was wrapped in bandages. Felix’s face scrunched in anger.

“You fool! How many times are you going to pull this little stunt!” he roared.

Sylvain laughed, raising his hands in the air. “Come on, dude, it was just a joke. I don’t-”

“Everything is a joke to you!” Felix stomped over to him and Sylvain braced for a lecture. “We are in the middle of a war! People are dying; we kill thousands at every battle we’re led into. Your death is just as possible as any of the soldiers I’ve skewered on my blade, and if you’re getting injured in training, then you don’t even belong on the battlefield at all!”

“Geez, Felix, don’t you think that’s a little harsh? After all the times I’ve saved you?”

“Shut up, you fool! If you will not take your life seriously, then I don’t want you anywhere near me! If you want to get yourself killed, then go right ahead, but your flippancy will only get others killed along with you! If that’s what you want, then stay away from me.”

Having said his piece, he started to storm out.

“Felix, wait!” he called out and his friend paused, turning, his arms crossed.

“I’m… sorry, okay? You’re right. You’re right about all of it. I don’t train enough and I’m flippant and all that stuff you said.”

Felix huffed. “Apologies are cheap. Show your remorse and work harder.”

“Yeah… I will,” Sylvain said softly, looking at his injured leg. A moment of silence hung heavy between them. Sylvain expected Felix to leave, but he still stood there, as if searching for something to say.

“How bad is it?” he finally asked, his face slightly flushed.

“Aww, do you care about me?” Sylvain cooed, already back to his snarky tone.

“No. I just want to know if you’ll be prepared for our next battle.”

“Ah. Yeah, it’ll be fine by tomorrow. I just gotta rest it. Magic did the rest.”

“Good. As soon as you’re better, I want to spar with you.”

“C’mon, you’re just going to beat me.”

“Then you should be training harder.”

Sylvain sighed and laughed lightly. “Guess you got me there.”

“It’s unbelievable, even now, five years after the academy, with our houses being the last ones standing against the Empire, you’re still so unconcerned, so uninterested in fighting. You just want to goof around.”

“Hey, what’s life without a little fun, right?”

“My father is dead, Sylvain. There is no time for fun,” Felix said curtly.

Sylvain’s mouth opened and shut; he didn’t know what to say to that. Felix sighed and walked over, sitting down on the edge of Sylvain’s bed, shoulders slumped.

“I’m sorry, Felix. About your dad.”

Felix waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t need your pity. He was a fool and he died by his own hand. He abandoned the house of Fraldarius. He always was a bootlicker to the royal family.”

“He and King Lambert… they were best friends, right?”

Felix didn’t respond. Sylvain continued.

“I know you don’t care to hear this, but given the circumstances… I’d do the same for you.”

Felix turned, enraged. “Die needlessly? Waste your own life for someone else’s? And what do you expect from me in return? When you die, it’s over. Everything’s over! You won’t see me living on, so don’t bother! Quit living for other people, Sylvain! Live for yourself for once!”

“I… I couldn’t live for myself if you died without me trying to stop it.” Sylvain said. “That promise we made when we were kids… It was a stupid one, but I intend to stick to it.”

Felix’s face twisted in agony, his eyes rimmed with red. His hand lashed out, gripping the collar of Sylvain’s shirt and wrenching him forward. “Do not die for me, do you understand?” he growled. “If you want to die, then die for yourself.”

Sylvain’s eyes widened, not at the threat--this would not be the first time Felix had roughed him up--but at the genuine worry in his eyes. It was a face he had not seen since they were children. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around Felix and pulled him into a tight hug, throwing him off balance. All of his weight fell onto Sylvain and it tipped him sideways, sending them back onto the bed. Still, Sylvain held him tightly, and Felix did not resist.

Felix’s cries were silent; his body did not rock or shake and he did not sob, but his tears dampened Sylvain’s shirt as he pressed his face to his chest. Sylvain gripped him as though the whole world threatened to wrench him out of his grasp. Despite all Felix’s wishes, Sylvain knew that if Felix’s life was on the line, he would still give his own gladly in his friend’s place. This world was simply not worth living in without Felix by his side.

As the tension ebbed and Felix’s tears finally slowed, Sylvain’s grip loosened, but Felix did not sit up. Sylvain reached up and gently untied his hair from its ponytail, combing his fingers through the dark locks. It was a bit greasy, as was his own; none of them had the time to wash as much as they would like, but Sylvain could feel Felix’s body relaxing against his as he stroked his hair.

“Felix?”

“Hm.” Felix’s voice was muffled by Sylvain’s chest.

“I think I love you.”

Felix snorted and suddenly sat up. “I bet you said that to all the girls you used to drag in here.”

“No! No, it’s not… You’re not- Ugh, you know!” Sylvain sat up, his face flushed bright red.

Felix raised an eyebrow. “No, I do not know.”

Sylvain grabbed Felix by the strap across his chest and yanked him close, pressing their lips together. Felix’s eyes went wide, too shocked to struggle. When Sylvain broke away, both their faces went a deep shade of red and they looked away.

They spoke over each other.

“Sylvain, I…”

“I’m sorry, Felix, that was…”

They paused and looked up. Sylvain laughed lightly. “I know you don’t like it, but if you’re in danger, I’ll have no choice but to die for you.”

Felix’s eyebrows knitted into a glare. “Then… I guess you’ll… have to stay by my side. So I can make sure that never happens.”

Sylvain’s eyes lit up and he pulled Felix into another tight hug, swinging him back and forth. 

“S-Sylvain, let go! You- You-”

“Ooooo, we’re gonna be together forever, Felix,” he cooed in a baby voice.

Felix lifted his hand and stuck it to Sylvain’s face, pushing him back forcefully, though Sylvain didn’t let go.

“Sh-Shut up! You are so annoying!”

Sylvain pursed his lips from behind Felix’s hand. “I love you, Feli-i-ix!” he cooed. “Don’t you love me back?”

“No!” Felix snapped and Sylvain laughed, finally letting him go. Felix crossed his arms.

“You are an absolute fool,” Felix said, his face hot with embarrassment. “But… perhaps to say that I love you would not be a complete lie.”

Sylvain smirked and reached up to his face, gently combing a lock of hair from his face. “One more, then?” he asked.

Felix scowled at him, but said, “I suppose. If you must.”

Sylvain smiled wide and pulled him close, pressing their lips together again, softer this time, and Felix leaned into it, his eyes closed, tasting Sylvain’s breath as it filled his mouth. He slid his hands around Sylvain’s waist this time, feeling the warmth of his body through his thin cotton shirt, as Sylvian tangled one hand in his hair.

They parted for breath, then kissed again, slowly laying back down on the bed, Sylvain moving his legs onto the bed and under Felix, so he could lay comfortably on top. When they finally parted, Felix hung over Sylvain, his long, untied hair brushing his friend’s face. He searched Sylvain’s eyes for a hint of regret, and found none, and knew that he meant everything he’d said. He lowered himself back down onto Sylvain’s chest and Sylvain stroked his hair.

“You wanna skip training today?” he asked. “Hang out with the invalid?”

Felix snorted. “You’re a fool.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Felix was quiet, thinking, his usual conviction to his daily routine now dulled by Sylvain’s hand in his hair.

“I suppose I can put off training a while longer.”

Sylvain squeezed him tight. “Good. It gets lonely up here with no girls to bring me flowers.”

“Shut up, Sylvain.”


End file.
